42 Balloons – The Lowry, Salford

Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

42 Balloons continues at The Lowry, Salford until 19 May 2024.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Perhaps the first stroke of genius in Jack Godfrey’s new musical 42 Balloons is the way the opening prologue sets out its stall. With disarmingly self-deprecating wit, the company sings, in one of many sly asides to the audience, “This really happened, you can look it up after the show”, and this after having suggested that you may have difficulty explaining to your friends why you went to see a musical about a man who took flight in a lawn chair. Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds, and every part of it is absolutely true.

And this simple fact that everything is based entirely on a true story gives the whole work an extra layer of wonder. Throughout the entire show, the one question that it effectively keeps asking is ‘why?’ and the answer is splendidly clear.

‘What makes a man want to fly in a lawn chair? What makes a woman buy 42 weather balloons?’ is a line oft repeated in this opening number and reprised throughout the story, and the reason is easy to see. Here is a man who is determined never to give up on his dream, and his friends love him so much that they will go to any lengths to help him achieve it.

Larry Walters had dreamed of becoming a pilot since childhood, but his eyesight was so poor that he was rejected by the Air Force and sent instead to be an Army cook in Vietnam. But a series of lightbulb moments led him to work out that if he tied enough helium-filled balloons together they would carry his weight. So it was that in 1982, strapped into a sturdy and very expensive lawn chair to which were attached 42 weather balloons, he took dramatically (and very swiftly) to the skies.

The book, music and lyrics, all written by Godfrey, along with Natalie Pryce’s costumes, are 1980s to the core, with the thumping pop-inspired score packed full of high energy and power ballads, orchestrated and arranged by musical supervisor Joe Beighton. Charlie McCullagh and Evelyn Hoskins as Larry and Carol get the lion’s share of big solo numbers, but they are supported by equally powerful vocal performances from Gillian Hardie as Carol’s mom and Lejaun Sheppard as Larry’s faithful childhood friend Ron. There are some 34 songs in what is a sung-through show, and apart from the opening already alluded to there are a great many musical highlights. One of the most moving and powerful, however, is ‘Helium’, in which Carol sings of the emotional fallout from Larry’s broken pride after months of media ridicule.

While Act I is all about the planning and execution of the flight, Act II charts Larry’s attempts to raise the cash to repay the immense debt accrued by Carol in getting him airborne. Here the uproarious comedy turns to something far more poignant, but rather than ending like a deflated balloon, Godfrey’s book succeeds in pushing through the tragedy to a triumphant and truly uplifting conclusion.

The action, choreographed by Alexzandra Sarmiento, plays out on Milla Clarke’s ingenious set, which at first appears to be a featureless, white hemisphere. However, it proves to have tricks up its sleeve as, once the main narrative has been set out, the location of the show’s really excellent live band with their musical director Flynn Sturgeon is revealed, after which they become almost part of the action. Meanwhile, a series of immersive, animated projections from Andrzej Goulding complete the visuals, filling the stage with colour and movement. Paul Gatehouse’s exemplary sound design ensures that every word of the wonderfully witty sung dialogue is heard against the gloriously evocative soundtrack.

Just as suggested in the prologue, I was a little incredulous reading the premise on paper but, brought to the stage with carefully crafted dramaturgy and direction by Ellie Coote, this seemingly crazy idea really does take flight. 42 Balloons is a joyous, funny and, above all, heartwarming show about the power of dreams and the importance of love and friendship, and it is guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face and a head full of earworms. More than that, it has to be one of the best new musicals since Standing at the Sky’s Edge, and I will eat my hat if it doesn’t have a very long life beyond this run.

Nigel Smith